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My dad once told me about Mantle's last all-star game. It was in Houston in 1968 and Mantle pinch-hit and got a standing ovation from the crowd.

It was the late 1970's when my dad told me of the story so I didn't know how accurate it really was. I was able to watch that game last month. Sure enough, late in the game, Mantle is called upon to pinch hit. The crowd stood and applauded like it was something special. Was it common knowledge that this was The Mick's last time? I don't know. But it was a nice tribute. And it was genuine (which is difficult to imagine in today's atmosphere where every event must have something noteworthy and marketable.)

My dad once told me about Mantle's last all-star game. It was in Houston in 1968 and Mantle pinch-hit and got a standing ovation from the crowd.

It was the late 1970's when my dad told me of the story so I didn't know how accurate it really was. I was able to watch that game last month. Sure enough, late in the game, Mantle is called upon to pinch hit. The crowd stood and applauded like it was something special. Was it common knowledge that this was The Mick's last time?

It was certainly known that in the days of no interleague play and All-Star games that rotated about every 20 years, this was going to be the Mick's final game in Houston.

What the Houston fans of 1968 might also have remembered is that Mantle hit the first Astrodome home run, in a 1965 pre-season game. That collective memory of just three years earlier might have added an extra bit of energy to the crowd's reaction, with lots of those fans leaning over and telling their seat neighbors that "I was there" for that one.

Mantle announced his retirement on March 1, 1969, during spring training, at age 37. Topps issued him a card that year, since they had to decide who to print well before that date. Then June 8, 1969 was Mickey Mantle Day at Yankee Stadium.

Jeter hasn't been great, but he has been somewhat better than I expected. I think the example in baseball over the last 50 years or so of, "I bet he wishes he hasn't come back for one last season is Willie Mays, 1973 Mets.

Most major league players do not retire voluntarily; they are not given a choice. Players with very long careers who are plausible HoF candidates often do get the opportunity to schedule their retirements. In effect, they've earned the right to choose. But one aspect of that choice is that such a player might opt not to go away, other than kicking and screaming. That was Carlton. At the end, you can see him churning through several different teams, being released as one team after another decided that he really couldn't pitch any more, until finally there was no team left to take a chance on him.

Mays was clearly done in 72 if you watched but as a young Mets fan, I completely ignored his weaknesses because my team had the greatest player who ever lived. Granted, he was no Don Hahn but.........................

I watched. I will grant you that he looked a bit toasty with the Giants in the early weeks of '72 (as he had down the back stretch in '71), but I also watched him hit homers in both of his first games against the Giants following the trade (at Shea and at Candlestick; I was present at the Candlestick game). He put up a 145 OPS+ in his 69 games with the Mets that year. He suddenly looked very much not done.

I would think that in the days before mega contracts as long as someone gave you a contract you'd show up to work.

Funny, in that Jeter/Mantle thread someone made the exact opposite point (that the old-timers would have held on a little longer if they'd had millions at stake). Given that we're talking about absolutely elite players (OCF's point about the rareness of players choosing when to retire is a very good one, and I'm surprised it's taken this long given multiple recent threads on the subject), I'd lean towards that POV rather than [15]. Your average ballplayer, yeah, by definition they hang on as long as they can. For the select few that get to choose, I'd guess they have enough in the pipeline through endorsements etc... and enough pride that the non-life-changing money on offer wasn't a huge factor, whereas these days one more year means setting up another generation of your family for life. But I've never been an elite baseball player with declining skills trying to make that decision so WTF would I know*?

I imagine every one of them had a different assessment of the grind of spending another six months on the road, the prospect of spending all year (the whole rest of your life) at home instead of out with the guys for the first time in ever, injuries and related pain, pride, continuing level of enjoyment of actually playing the game, and whatever the heck else was going on in their lives. I'm guessing the stats they put up in their final years wasn't a huge factor, except insofar as not being effective doing something they were always great at is incredibly frustrating.

The surprising ones are the (admittedly very few) that actually walk away while still under contract. Gil Meche didn't have to go begging at any doors for another contract, the Royals owed him $10m (I think it was, some amount like that) and he hung them up anyway. He was certainly rich already, but that $10m would have amounted to about 20% of his lifetime earnings to that date.

Related but different case, when David Justice was retiring I remember him giving as his reason that he was bored of playing baseball. (Huh,and he, like all old sluggers, finished his career in Oakland. I had forgotten that.)

the team finally got old and nobody looked more hobbled on the field than mickey. i don't think it can be overstated how much mantle radiated PAIN his last few years. every guy i knew who was over 40 identified with mantle and the obvious hitch in his gait, the grimaces, and the various bending/stretching he would do in a clear effort to make himself less uncomfortable.

cbs had bought the team just in time for it to begin stinking so there were a number of rumors that this 'day' was an attempt to tell mickey how much ownership needed him and to keep him from retiring.

To give context: Stan Musial decided to retire after the end of 1963, where he had an OPS+ of 137, but hadn't played full time. In 1963, he had only a 101 OPS+, only played enough time to be considered the starter, and was one of the bigger reasons that the Cards did not win that pennant, which the organization was trying hard to do as a parting gift to Stan. When you announce that you're retiring after a 137 season, your standards are high.

Ted Williams decided to retire after his worst season, the only one in which he did not hit .300 (.255). The next season, his farewell tour, he had an OPS+ of 190. Yes. 190. He still retired.

As mentioned above, Steve Carlton got fleeced by a truly lousy and unethical investment advisor, and was, essentially, taking his name on tour for a couple of seasons, just to make enough money for a comfortable retirement. If I were making serious money playing MLB, there is no way in hell I would have all my money with one investment advisor. I'd have it split among at least three. But, then, I'm not 30 years old and have one skill that will make me millions but will stop doing that in my 30s, and no other such skill. Those guys have to put almost all their focus into playing baseball, not watching over their financial advisors.- Brock Hanke

Carlton was such an oddball that he could have had ten different investment advisors, and each would have lost his money. He wasn't (and apparently still isn't) the kind of guy to follow the 'Investments for Dummies'-type of advice.

McGwire's last season was one of those seasons that encourages arm-chair remote psychoanalysis. His knee was obviously a physical drain, but during the second half of the season his body language "obviously" indicaed he was emotionally beaten. There were times when he looked like he had given up, and he just wanted to get the strikeout over with as quickly as possible. This led to what should've been his final at-bat, which was aborted so Kerry F. Robinson could pinch hit for him in an obvious sacrifice situation. It all looked bad as it happened, but when he retired with money on the table, it looked even worse in retrospect.

Correction: Stan's 137 OPS+ season was 1962, not 1963. He announced at the end of 62 that 63 would be his last year. Essentially that means that you should replace the first 1963 ("end of 1963" becomes "end of 1962"), but not the second one ("In 1963" remains the same). He had the 137 in 1962, after which he announced that he would play only one more season, and the 101 in 1963, during his farewell tour. - Brock

Funny, in that Jeter/Mantle thread someone made the exact opposite point (that the old-timers would have held on a little longer if they'd had millions at stake).

That was me (and maybe others). But what I meant was that if, like Jeter, an old-timer was in the middle of a 4/$52 M contract (or whatever it is), he wouldn't have retired. Obviously there would be exceptions but having committed to 4 years and having money on the table, they wouldn't retire.

Now if things really went to hell, they and the team would probably come to some agreement so the guy could retire rather than be released. That's what Special Advisor to the Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations jobs are for.

On Meche, his issue again was pain and injury and that, if he was still under contract, then he would have been required to make a good faith effort to rehab, possibly including surgery. He didn't want to go through more painful rehab which everybody knew wasn't going to be successful.

I'll also grant it's not necessarily logical -- if I've got $150 M in the bank and can either leave money on the table but hit the links, cruise around the ballpark and stop by the broadcast booth whenever I want, work on my broadcasting skills, etc. or drag my aching body through one more disappointing ML season, I'm leaving money on the table. But I suspect that's one (of about a million) reasons why I am not an elite athlete.

In the old times, baseball didn't pay that well, lots of guys were working offseason jobs anyway, retiring and getting on with the rest of your life probably looked more attractive then.

I also wonder about this article. I wasn't baseball conscious in 1968 but what I've heard/read about Mantle's 68 is that it is being remembered correctly. That is how people viewed it in real time, including Mantle. It was a hugely disappointing season, he was on his last legs. I suspect you'd have a hard time finding anybody in real time talking about how good his season was and probably not even about how it was better than it looked. It's only with the benefit of hindsight, both sabermetric and in realizing that 68 was just some extreme horror we'd never (quite) have to live through again.

However we don't have the excuse this time around. As I also noted in the other Jeter-Mantle thread, if the notion is that great players will often rather walk away than continue on as normal players, that happened to Jeter about 5 years ago. The Mantle (or DiMaggio to pick a healthier player) equivalent would be Jeter walking away after 2010 saying "What the hell was that? I don't want to go through that again." Of course he had that nice bounce back year with the bat in 2012. To be clear, I don't have a problem with him continuing on after 2010, I'm just saying that was pretty clearly his "I am never going to be THE Derek Jeter again" season.

As I also noted in the other Jeter-Mantle thread, if the notion is that great players will often rather walk away than continue on as normal players, that happened to Jeter about 5 years ago.

Again, there's something there but I just don't think it's quite that simple. Even if performance level is the primary factor, each player probably has a different level at which they're comfortable continuing relative to their peak, and a different expectation of whether they can improve going forward -- but there's no way it's the only factor.

In Mantle's case, being significantly less effective surely played into it (particularly given that the whole world seemed to think he was done), but so did the knees, which must have made playing a whole lot less fun, and the chance of a recovery remote. It's a shame folks didn't see how good he still was, but I doubt that a bigger appreciation of his OPS+ would have convinced him to stick around.

In Jeter's case, coming back for this year probably reflects being under contract, wanting to go out with a full season instead of the 2013 blip (and just showing he could come back from the injury); for all we know he might have seen how much love Mariano got on the way out and thought "me too!" In turn, calling it quits after 2014 probably reflects the contract running out, the effect of the injuries on the enjoyability of the grind, maybe even reaching a 'milestone' age of 40, as well as being less effective. Lotta factors.

Totally agree about the old times -- the difference between baseball salary and what they could get elsewhere (not to mention the difference in pension for a bit more service time, for the lesser players) wasn't nearly what it is now.

And, in a few cases, the player plays 1+ more season(s) in order to reach career milestones.

Carlton was such an oddball that he could have had ten different investment advisors, and each would have lost his money.

Yep. He was and is a 100% crazy person. A sane person's guiding rule is to invest in boring, widely diversified mutual funds, with a prudent stock-bond mix. Carlton's was probably to hide his money from international Jewish bankers.

i thought johnny bench's last season was fairly dignified. taht and he took candelaria deep one last time late in the season which was fitting because bench OWNED the candy man

I was at Johnny Bench's last game in San Diego, this game. Bench only got one pinch hit AB late in the game and struck out, but those of us in attendance (about 19,000) gave him a big standing ovation.

Earlier in the season I was up in Anaheim for Carl Yastrzemski's last trip through there, at this game. Hmm, come to think of it, that was 31 years ago to the day on Sunday. Damn, I'm old. Anyhoo, Sox were up 4 to 1 over the Angels and I think Tommy John was pitching for the Angels into the 8th; at that stage of his career Yaz wasn't starting against lefties. So it looked like Yaz wasn't even going to be needed for any pinch hitting assignments that day, and we were all trying to figure out how to get him into this game so we could give him our farewell. Fans are funny that way; we think about stupid stuff like that. Then the Angels tied up the game 4-4 and in the next inning the Sox got a man on second and TJ got pulled as the Angels brought in a righty reliever. So now we're thinking "there's hope!" Sure enough, they announced Yaz as a pinch hitter and the place just went nuts, all 40,000 of us. Big, long, standing ovation for Yaz as he stepped to the plate. And then John McNamara, that chicken**** Angels manager, just had the pitcher intentionally walk Yaz with first base open. On the one hand, even at age 43, opposing teams still feared Yaz with runners in scoring position, which is quite a bit of respect. On the other hand, we came to see the man hit, not get the bat taken out of his hands. So a chorus of boos rained down from the stands as Yaz headed down to first base.

It's strange; 2 great players in their farewell seasons; the last time I would see either of them play. One walked to a chorus of boos; the other struck out to thunderous cheers. As Joe Garagiola would say, baseball is a funny game.

"what I meant was that if, like Jeter, an old-timer was in the middle of a 4/$52 M contract (or whatever it is), he wouldn't have retired. Obviously there would be exceptions but having committed to 4 years and having money on the table, they wouldn't retire.

Now if things really went to hell, they and the team would probably come to some agreement so the guy could retire rather than be released. That's what Special Advisor to the Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations jobs are for."

Carlton was such an oddball that he could have had ten different investment advisors, and each would have lost his money.

Yep. He was and is a 100% crazy person.

I remember back in the 80s when some reporter tracked down Carlton after his retirement and heard some "odd" things... said reporter then went to NY to interview McCarver (then the Mets announcer) who had famously not just been Carlton's personal catcher but also his "mouthpiece" with the Press (The story had been that Carlton didn't like the press and didn't want to talk to them), the Reporter evidently thought that Carlton had had a mental breakdown and needed some type of professional help- McCarver basically laughed at the guy, "breakdown? Carlton always been like that- why do you think the team asked me to run interference all those years" It seems that Carlton didn't avoid the media while playing because he didn't like the media (like Eddie Murray)- he avoided the Press because the team asked him to, and McCarver was tasked with keeping the media away. Obviously some Phillies Reporters knew Carlton was batshit (Just as at the same time many Dodgers reporters knew that Garvey was despised and loathed by his teammates) but they mostly put a lid on it during his playing career.

I like guys who are like Rickey Henderson - he had to be dragged away from the game, just kept playing and playing even in indy leagues just because he seemed to love to play. I'd bet if someone offered him a contract in indy ball today he'd seriously consider it. Its funny because Henderson in his career was generally viewed as a selfish guy who'd walk away once he made as much as he could, not a guy who'd ride buses again just to keep going.

To add to Brock's remarks above, both Musial and Williams took substantial pay cuts mid-career. Which had a certain logic to it, because they declined as players, so why the heck should they still be making that princely $75-90K? Sheesh. The same was true of Yogi Berra, Duke Snider, and other contemporaries. It was typical for a star's salary to peak and then recede.

Mays and Mantle were just younger enough that they retired at their highest salary, though they too had seen some mid-career fluctuation. Slightly younger guys (Brook Robinson) simply never saw their salary recede. By the time you get to Yastrzemski, let's say, he was making seven times as much to be an elderly, just-OK DH as he'd made being a superstar MVP. That must have been a factor in some of the long careers that started in the 1960s (notably Carlton, Ryan, and other pitchers from their generation).

Anymore, a big star might be making an absolutely enormous amount of money, but relative to what he's already made, it's small, and it's no longer going up even as he's pushing 40. Mike Mussina could have signed for another $10 or $12M a year, but unlike Nolan Ryan, who made about 40% of his career earnings in his last three decline years in Texas, Mussina had already made $140M.

A note about Carlton and milestones (well, more records than milestones): for a time, mostly in 1983 and 1984, Carlton was the career strikeouts leader. If I've done the arithmetic correctly, at the end of the 1983 season, Carlton had 3709 and Ryan had 3677, both having just recently passed the previous record, Walter Johnson's 3509. And at the end of the 1984 season, Carlton had 3872 and Ryan had 3874. Although Ryan is two years younger than Carlton, at the time it might not have seemed a sure thing as to which one would end up with the record. Of course, from there, Ryan kept going and going and Carlton didn't.

It seems that Carlton didn't avoid the media while playing because he didn't like the media (like Eddie Murray)- he avoided the Press because the team asked him to, and McCarver was tasked with keeping the media away.

Carlton was actually not all that bad with the press up through the 1972 season. From what I've read, he pitched fairly well but lost to Tom Seaver on opening day the next year, but when some of the reporters started trying to read some sort of cosmic significance into the loss, he just decided that the only way to not let the press be an annoyance and a distraction was to avoid them altogether, and from that day on he did just that.

yes, Carlton and Ryan kept passing each other from start to start at times, at other times one needed a couple of weeks to catch up. kind of weird for such a substantial record, and one no one will be threatening again anytime soon.

No way. Mickey was just done. His body was like an nfl qb where the day after a game it takes 5 hours after you wake up before you try and get up

And he was like that every day

Harvey, you're only saying that because you actually saw Mantle gimping around and grimacing. Of course you're right, and what you're saying is exactly what Mantle was saying himself, but what did he know?